Part II

Introduction

1
Words will mean little now. We use them but as guides on which we do
not now depend. For now we seek direct experience of truth alone. The
lessons that remain are merely introductions to the times in which we leave
the world of pain, and go to enter peace. Now we begin to reach the
goal this course has set, and find the end toward which our
practicing was always geared.

2
Now we attempt to let the exercise be merely a beginning. For we wait
in quiet expectation for our God and Father. He has promised He will
take the final step Himself. And we are sure His promises are kept.
We have come far along the road, and now we wait for Him. We will
continue spending time with Him each morning and at night, as long as
makes us happy. We will not consider time a matter of duration now.
We use as much as we will need for the result that we desire. Nor
will we forget our hourly remembrance in between, calling to God when
we have need of Him as we are tempted to forget our goal.

3
We will continue with a central thought for all the days to come, and
we will use that thought to introduce our times of rest, and calm our minds
at need. Yet we will not content ourselves with simple practicing in
the remaining holy instants which conclude the year that we have
given God. We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father
to reveal Himself, as He has promised. We have called on Him, and He
has promised that His Son will not remain unanswered when he calls
His Name.

4
Now do we come to Him with but His Word upon our minds and hearts,
and wait for Him to take the step to us that He has told us, through
His Voice, He would not fail to take when we invited Him. He has not
left His Son in all his madness, nor betrayed his trust in Him. Has
not His faithfulness earned Him the invitation that He seeks to make us
happy? We will offer it, and it will be accepted. So our times with
Him will now be spent. We say the words of invitation that His Voice
suggests, and then we wait for Him to come to us.

5
Now is the time of prophesy fulfilled. Now are all ancient promises
upheld and fully kept. No step remains for time to separate from its
accomplishment. For now we cannot fail. Sit silently and wait upon
your Father. He has willed to come to you when you have recognized it
is your will He do so. And you could have never come this far unless
you saw, however dimly, that it is your will.

6
I am so close to you we cannot fail. Father, we give these holy times
to You, in gratitude to Him Who taught us how to leave the world of sorrow
in exchange for its replacement, given us by You. We look not backward
now. We look ahead, and fix our eyes upon the journey's end.
Accept these little gifts of thanks from us, as through Christ's
vision we behold a world beyond the one we made, and take that world
to be the full replacement of our own.

7
And now we wait in silence, unafraid and certain of Your coming. We
have sought to find our way by following the Guide You sent to us. We
did not know the way, but You did not forget us. And we know that You
will not forget us now. We ask but that Your ancient promises be kept
which are Your Will to keep. We will with You in asking this. The
Father and the Son, Whose holy Will created all that is, can fail in
nothing. In this certainty, we undertake these last few steps to You,
and rest in confidence upon Your Love, which will not fail the Son
who calls to You.

8
And so we start upon the final part of this one holy year, which we
have spent together in the search for truth and God, Who is its one
Creator. We have found the way He chose for us, and made the choice
to follow it as He would have us go. His Hand has held us up. His
Thoughts have lit the darkness of our minds. His Love has called to
us unceasingly since time began.

9
We had a wish that God would fail to have the Son whom He created for
Himself. We wanted God to change Himself, and be what we would make of Him.
And we believed that our insane desires were the truth. Now we are
glad that this is all undone, and we no longer think illusions true.
The memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of our
minds. A moment more, and it will rise again. A moment more, and we
who are God's Sons are safely home, where He would have us
be.

10
Now is the need for practice almost done. For in this final section, we
will come to understand that we need only call to God, and all temptations
disappear. Instead of words, we need but feel His Love. Instead of
prayers, we need but call His Name. Instead of judging, we need but
be still and let all things be healed. We will accept the way
God's plan will end, as we received the way it started. Now it is
complete. This year has brought us to eternity.

11
One further use for words we still retain. From time to time,
instructions on a theme of special relevance will intersperse our
daily lessons and the periods of wordless, deep experience which
should come afterwards. These special thoughts should be reviewed
each day, each one of them to be continued till the next is given
you. They should be slowly read and thought about a little while,
preceding one of the holy and blessed instants in the day. We give
the first of these instructions now.